EL MONTE - Some of the 14 lifeguards who were controversially fired for filming a "Gangnam Style" music video spoof on city property are being reinstated to their jobs.

But only so that they can promptly resign.

Following national outcry over the terminations, a split City Council in October recommended that the ousted employees be rehired and given the chance to resign from their positions to eliminate the blemish from their records.

Those who want to continue working at the El Monte Aquatic Center will have to wait until the end of the year when an independent review of the firings and of the center's management are completed.

Although the city declined to release the number of resignations it has received so far, at least two lifeguards have said they're opting not to return to their posts.

Michael Roa, the mastermind behind the YouTube sensation dubbed "Lifeguard Style" said he received a letter from the city last week informing him of a temporary reinstatement so that he could resign from his position. He sent in his official resignation letter on Monday, he said.

"This was one of the rare occasions in life where I felt like I could stand up not only for myself but for others in the video," Roa said Tuesday. "I made the video and countless people got fired for the thing I made for fun. I, in part, felt responsible for the chaos that followed."

A recent Loyola Marymount University graduate, he plans to pursue a job within the field of psychology, he said.

Former lifeguard Amelia Rangel, 21, also took the option and said she was glad that the ordeal was over.

"I'm actually kind of happy; the fact that it's not going to show on my record that I was fired," she said. "You feel much better that when you look back at it, it's not going to affect you."

The city in early September terminated the group of lifeguards after discovering their parody of the Korean pop video "Gangnam Style" on YouTube.

Officials said that the part-time city employees, who were filmed mimicking the moves of the viral music video in areas of the El Monte Aquatic Center, violated their at-will contracts when they shot the video on city property in their El Monte-issued swimsuits for their own private benefit.

Interim City Manager Dayle Keller and a representative of the city's Human Resources Department have been meeting with the lifeguards individually over the last few weeks to discuss if they preferred to return to their job or resign.

Keller said that "some lifeguards" had chosen to resign, but declined to release numbers until the process is completed.

The city's decision to fire the lifeguards sparked backlash from hundreds of people who attended city council meetings to defend the mostly college-age employees, who were prominently featured in newspapers, television shows and news broadcasts for weeks after they were fired.

The City Council later directed staff to rehire the lifeguards, who they hoped would cooperate with an independent investigation into the firings and other accusations the lifeguards have made publicly about how the Aquatic Center is run, including allegations of poor management and nepotism.